I've been a crappy blogger this summer. Pretty much checked out all summer. I'm going to try to get back into it but I'm not making any promises that it'll take.One of the posts that I started two months ago but never finished was this one about The Kadane Brothers and Bottomless Pit at Le Divan Orange in Montreal on Jul 13.
Here's the skinny...good music...crappy club.
Heavy rain for most of the drive which stinks when you're flying solo.
At least the rain yielded to a cool sky as I was approaching Montreal.
I had some time to kill before the show. So, I wandered around the neighborhood and snapped this cool picture of the post-storm vapors rising against the hillside.
The reason I had time to kill was that Le Divan Orange listed the starting time for the show as 9:30 with no opening band. However, when I arrived at the empty club around 9pm, I was told by the bartender that shows at Le Divan Orange generally don't start until 11pm and that there would be an opening band. Shit. Why the hell do they post completely wrong info on their site? Are they too cool to post accurate info? Do they think that we all live such carefree lives that the showtime on a Sunday night doesn't matter?Whatever, I had a bunch of time to kill. So, I drank a few beers, read the paper, talked to some folks and listened to the soundchecks.
The opening band was some completely forgettable band. I don't mean that I've forgotten who they were to months after the show. I mean that I had forgotten their name before I had reach the US border.
One thing that popped in my head was the band's use of cello and a violin. I guess if you're a band from Montreal these days, you think you're going to get noticed by replicating Arcade Fire. Not even close.
Matt and Bubba Kadane came out and played a bunch of songs off their new self-titled album (I'll try to post a review of it later this week...in short, it's a goody) and some earlier gems such as "Gasoline" and "End's Not Near".I'm always impressed when a song can be stripped down to a minimum of instruments (in this case, just two guitars) and the songs are still enjoyable. Well built tunes.
The transition from the Kadanes to Bottomless Pit was one of the slickest I've ever seen. The Kadanes finished their song with a long tune which was slowly filled out by members of Bottomless Pit as the band members slowly came on stage to join the song. The song then transitioned into a Bottomless Pit song as Matt and Bubba unplugged and left the stage. Bottomless Pit then just went right along with their set. More bands should find ways to do this. It keeps the show going and is interesting to watch...much more interesting than watching roadies change the stage over.
Bottomless Pit sounded good. The bonus of hearing their soundcheck was that I got to hear "Dogtags" twice in one night. However, I think the highlight of the set for me was "Reposession" which is good on the album but fantastic live.The big problem of the night was Le Divan Orange. In addition to the mistake on their website, it's a miserable place to watch a show. They have an oven behind the bar (not a toaster oven but a full kitchen oven) which they use to cook and reheat food. So, that thing is cranking out heat all night and there isn't any air conditioning. Well, as the sweat began to build, the employees of the club hung big industrial fans on the wall. However, unless you were standing right in front of them, they didn't cut your sweat runs. Plus, they made a loud humming sound which drowned out the quieter, more subtle moment of the Kadane Brothers set. Such a disappointment of a club. They seem to be making an effort to bring in lots of good acts but unless they get their website and climate straightened out, it's all a waste of effort on their part.
The New Year (Kadane brothers band) start touring later this week. Here are their dates:
9/18 - Granada Theatre - Dallas, TX
9/19 - Rudyards - Houston, TX
9/20 - Emo's Alternative Lounge - Austin, TX
9/22 - Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
9/23 - Modified - Phoenix, AZ
9/24 - The Echo - Los Angeles, CA
9/25 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
9/26 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
9/27 - Sunset Tavern - Seattle, WA
9/29 - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO
10/9 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA
10/10 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
10/11 - The Middle East - Boston, MA
10/12 - The Livingroom - Providence, RI
10/13 - Club Metronome - Burlington, VT <--- Can't miss show (with Capstan Shafts)
10/14 - Le Divan Orange - Montreal, QC
10/15 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, ON
10/16 - The Pike Room - Pontiac, MI
10/17 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
10/18 - Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA
10/19 - High Dive - Champaign, IL
10/20 - Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
10/21 - DC9 - Washington, DC
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